The self-proclaimed biggest partiers in the South are taking over reality TV once again, at a beach nearby. Party Down South debuts its third season on CMT at 9 p.m. Thursday. And if you were at CJ's On The Island on Treasure Island this past Monday, you might just be seeing yourself on television hanging out with Daddy, Lyle, Murray, Walt, Lauren, Mattie, Tiffany and new cast member Hannah “Hott Dogg.”
Ant Maher, a bartender at Caddy's On The Beach, might just be one of those people.
“I knew something was going down,” said Maher, who has been at Caddy's for 10 years. “I walked in around 10:30 pm and saw a place packed like it was midnight already. Normally, the place doesn't get going until after midnight. But there were people everywhere.”
Including “about 50 production members” from the show, according to CJ's owner Cherie Leal, who was informed by the producers an hour before the cast appeared.
“They came to visit a couple weeks ago and said they had heard about our place from word of mouth,” said Leal, who opened the bar along with her son, Josh Leal, in April 2013. “We had to sign a secrecy contract saying we wouldn't mention anything about it leading up to the filming of it. Then, everyone who came to the bar [on Monday] had to sign a release.”
As word spread via social media, more and more people showed up to watch and interact with the female members of the show on their girls' night out. At one point, a few of the female cast members got up on stage with DJ Stickem and helped him mix — or as Stickem describes, “touch the platters and do some wicky wicky” with the music.
According to Leal, the reality show stars behaved themselves in a normal "Party Down South kind of way," but Lauren, Mattie, Tiffany and Hannah didn't get too wild and crazy like episodes of their show depict (no, I'm not a junkie; I had to Google it).
“They were well-behaved, for the most part,” according to Leal. “They did get a little crazy at times, though. There was this one moment where they got up on this treasure chest we have on the bar and I had to keep telling them to get down because there was a cracked mirror behind it. I didn't want them to get hurt. They were fun, though.”
For Leal, it's another notch to add to the bar's sudden acclaim as being one of the best spots to be on the beach. You'd hardly know it was there unless you heard it from a friend, through word of mouth or social media, considering it sits neatly tucked into the corner of a shopping center next to a laundromat and nail salon, just before you get to Gulf Boulevard on Treasure Island. The bar's Monday night schedule has given the weekender work crew a place to let loose in different ways — from the Living Room Session featuring an acoustic set by Sherman Noir to the Monday Night Rehab party with a plethora of drink specials and sounds provided by DJ Stickem and TLuv.
Leal and her son started the bar following the demise of different establishments over the past decade, including places called Nick's Seabreeze, Celebrations and Central Stations. Throughout the years, Josh had been a bartender there and Cherie took care of the sounds as the disc jockey and karaoke director. After the failure of Central Stations, the two decided to stop working for someone else and create a place they hope will be successful for a long while.
If Monday is any indication, CJ's will be in operation for quite some time.
For more information about CJ's On The Island and their nightly specials besides just Monday, visit cjsonti.com. For more info on Party Down South, visit CMT.com.
